Horns

This is the second F-15 module we'll get in DCS. If anyone knows how to puck up a sequel, it's Electronic Arts - remember Medal of Honor Warfighter

Oh ok gotcha, so they wouldn’t skip the letter, that makes sense.

Here’s a dumb question: For the F-15-A through -D they followed the convention (for aircraft that have variants with different crew capacities) of designating the single seaters with the ‘odd’ letter, and the 2-seaters the ‘even’. Why isn’t the Strike Eagle designated the F-15F?

I don't think anyone has much idea yet of how it will perform in the sim per se, just because we haven't had our hands on it, so I think IRL is the only reference we have right now. Was there anything specific you wanted to know, on top of what's been discussed earlier in this thread? Of course, if people do have information on the sim performance of the upcoming module, please correct me... I will make one prediction: If a F-15E driver maximizes their speed and altitude (as advocated by someone earlier in this thread) and then tries to 1C a Hornet at 15Kft, they should probably lube up beforehand...

Dunning-Kruger Effect

I guess everyone needed to be clearer in their instructions: Look at the minimum and maximum launch distance on sidewinders. Unless you have more specific information (which at this point you'd need to provide a reference for), all you can say is that sidewinder shots happened between these distances. What's important is the *definition* of maneuvering combat, your opinions have nothing to do with it. Don't try to bring up how far an AIM-9 can be used in DCS, you know the conversation was about the 104 real-world kills. You tried to say that few of the F-15's air-to-air victories were in maneuvering combat but declined to give any numbers. When one makes an argument, it's up to them to prove it, otherwise it is invalid. It's not up to anyone else to prove you wrong until you provide actual hard data that appears to prove your point. Since then you've claimed to not have said things you very clearly said and tried everything possible to throw shade - without sighting hard evidence - when others contributed facts. I want to believe you're just tilted because of the insults you say you have copped in PvP but you're just embarrassing yourself now and you obviously aren't arguing in good faith, in fact this is getting pretty close to trolling. Either provide some facts or be satisfied you've expressed your opinion and leave it at that.

Thanks, the article's interesting - as it happens I'm a key.aero subscriber so I looked up the full article. If the F-35 does have any BFM chops I'd think it would have to be due to something like nose-point authority. I must admit I'm skeptical, but I will keep it in mind. If we start seeing more reports like this - ideally from pilots of different types - then I guess I'll have to reconsider my biases.

Haha - part of the reason I posted this was that I realized that, being completely honest, much of my interest in the Mudhen was really about hoping it would be an F-15C that could also carry bombs, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that way. I'm curious just how <profanity> out of luck we're going to be when we learn the truth

Awesome, exactly what I was asking, thank you. I didn't realize it would be inferior at range and up close against 'Cats!

I know the title will already have drawn some eye-rolls, and with good reason, but we all know this will come up sooner or later. I'd appreciate it if y'all could indulge me here. I know there has been some talk about the Strike Eagle's air to air ability, but as far as I can tell that was within discussions focusing on other things. I couldn't find any dedicated topics on this. I know the Strike Eagle designed with the air-to-air mission in mind just slightly more than the AJS Viggen - they both just happen to use the same airframe as their fighter-focused cousins. The F-15E was conceptualized and built in response to the USAF's strike requirement - still, it is listed as a multirole aircraft, so it seems reasonable to wonder just how well it compares in that role to other fighters in the sim and beyond. It seems well documented that it doesn't maneuver quite as well as the Charlie, so maybe it's lucky that the Mudhen is unlikely to ever face the F-15C in a conflict. Beyond that, however, how does it compare to something it might actually fight? Given the info we have on maneuvering vs the Charlie, for the sake of argument, let's assume the Mudhen doesn't want to wind up at guns only against any other 4th gen fighter. The core question is: Does it have a competitive advantage at any range against the other 4th gen platforms? If a couple of Strike Eagles were vectored to intercept, say, a couple of Flankers or Fulcrums, how would they rate their chances at 20 NMs in a neutral position? How about at 10? Would the engaged Strike Eagle drivers be best off fighting the machine or the pilot? Or would they be better off using a couple of piddle packs and split-s'ing in the other direction? I'd love to get hold of any books that cover the air-to air role of the F-15E in depth (even if they are mostly about the air-to-ground role). If anyone knows of any, I'd appreciate it if you could post their names. I'm not so interested in operational histories (unless there's a whole lot of 4th gen air-to-air combat I'm unaware of), I'm more interested in capabilities, given the sad lack of West vs East shooting wars (ofc I'm kidding). Thanks for reading.

I think it's usually until the module enters Early Access (ie becomes available to module owners). No one knows exactly how long that will be right now. According to this weekly news it will be "a few months later" than yesterday, "perhaps sooner".

The *other* two weeks...

For those of you who have already preordered: Did you receive Part 1 of Be Afraid of the Dark, or will that come later? I know Part 2 isn't written yet and will be a separate purchase...

The second one, I’m afraid EDIT: In fact it’s worse than that, it’s close of business, Pacific Time

I won't push this futher OT but I couldn't agree more - I saw something about pilots referring to it as the "panther", I think "penguin" suits it far better. If they must go with the stealth thing, I guess it could be the "silent penguin"...

No conversation about delays is complete without someone mentioning the F-35...

Ok, so my personal interpretation based on this (and possibly influenced by my former affection for doing things that would make my mother ashamed of me): HB currently expect some gap between the F-15E and the Phantom, but this is due more to a pursuit of quality (ie proper development time) than leaving a gap for its own sake. At the moment, it is "exceptionally unrealistic" to think the F-4E will be delayed as far as December. The most important thing this suggests to me is that a delay to the Mudhen probably won't result in a delay to the Phantom, unless HB believe it will improve financial prospects, so hopefully Razbam's ability to meet their schedule won't represent an extra variable. It also suggests to me that HB won't build a fixed idea of a date, season or quarter when they want to release. I'll adjust my guess to April to October, but if it's ready in March it seems like they won't wait just for the sake of it.

I think @Cobra847 will want at least a month's airspace between the start of the F-15E EA period and opening pre-orders for the F-4E. Releasing any closer than that won't gain HB anything, so accepting any risk (even a small one) due to a lack of clean air is just unnecessary. Besides, I think Cobra likes his modules to make a dramatic entrance, so he'll want the chance for the Phantom to dominate conversation, even if it's different voices that would talk about each module.

Thanks, I just tried moving my head closer to the gauges and you're right, they do get much clearer at a point. Not sure I can fly on a flat screen again!

Oh that's awesome, thanks heaps! I didn't think about using zoom, and you're right, anti aliasing and pixel density should help, thank you

Cheers, much appreciated

I just got an original Oculus Rift and have been flying with it just a couple of days. The one problem I've run into so far is reading the steam gauges in the pilot cockpit. Most I can figure out, but the four small dial numbers on the altitude gauge are completely unreadable to me. Is there a trick to deal with the blurry numbers on the gauges? Is this a problem that can only be fixed by using a higher resolution headset? Edit: Please note, I asked the question here because it is specific to the F-14. I'd be willing to use other modules to troubleshoot, but my aim is specifically to fly the F-14, whether the other modules are flyable in VR for me isn't terribly relevant.

Does that mean Phantoms and Tomcats can't use the same carrier?

I think one was missing a wall…

Well that was uncalled for